"The Walking Dead" has found its next big villain, Negan, in actor Jeffrey Dean Morgan ("Watchmen," "Supernatural"), but we haven't heard from the man who will play the series' most ruthless character until now.
Earlier this month, the actor spoke about landing the coveted role, and how the part will be different from anything he's ever done at Supernatural's PasCon in Pasadena, California.
For those who aren't familiar with the series, Negan is as bad as they come. The antithesis of protagonist Rick (Andrew Lincoln), Negan is the leader of a violent group of survivors called the Saviors who demand weapons, food, and property from other survivors of the zombie apocalypse. If they don't comply, they'll probably end up dead by Negan's hand.
When someone in the audience at PasCon asked Jeffrey Dean Morgan how he feels about playing a character who fans love to hate the actor told fans how he learned about the anticipated role. It turns out Dean Morgan was offered the role with very few details.
"My agent and manager called and they said you’ve been offered this thing on 'The Walking Dead,'" said Morgan in a clip that was uploaded to YouTube. "It’s to play like a big bad. At that time, they didn’t know the character’s name because I think it was supposed to be a secret."
However, they didn't need to tell the actor who he would be playing. He already had a pretty good idea.
"And I’m like, ‘Is it f—ing Negan?’ And they’re like, 'I don’t know, we’re going to have to call you back. Hold on a second.' And I’m like, ‘No, it’s f—ing Negan. And I’m f—ing doing it,'" said Morgan.
Similar to Morgan's remarks here, Negan’s dialogue in the comics is known for being profanity-laced. Nearly every other word out of his mouth is the not-so-television-friendly f-bomb.
Here's an example of the character's usual vernacular.
It's not clear how the network will adapt Negan to screen while keeping true to the character, but Morgan says it will be very satisfying and a huge departure from the nice guys he's used to playing on screen.
"I’ve kind of become accustomed to playing sort of a good guy, maybe a rough exterior, but a heart of gold in there somewhere," said Morgan. "So I think the challenge for me in this role is going to be: Is there any heart in Negan? And for me, I look at that as a challenge as an actor and that’s the kind of thing that I embrace and really look forward to. I’m super excited about it. It’s going to be cool I hope you all tune in and watch because I promise you it will be something different than you’ve seen me do."
We still have a little while to go until we actually see Negan on screen. According to The Hollywood Reporter, we'll get our first glimpse at the new big bad in the season six finale next spring.
You can watch Jeffrey Dean Morgan talk about playing Negan below.
